Joshua - Chapter 3

Joshua Chapters

1 Early in the morning, Joshua struck camp and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and there they camped before they crossed.

2 Three days later, the officials went through the camp

3 and gave the people these instructions, 'When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God being carried by the levitical priests, you will leave your position and follow it,so that you may know which way to take, since you have never gone this way before. Between you and the ark, however, keep a distance of about two thousand cubits: do not go near it.'

4 Between you and the ark, however, keep a distance of about two thousand cubits: do not go near it.'

5 Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, since tomorrow Yahwehwill work wonders among you.'

7 Yahweh said to Joshua, 'This very day, I shall begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel so that they will know that, as I was with Moses, so I shall be with you.

8 Now, give this order to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, "When you have reached the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you must halt in the Jordan itself." '

9 To the Israelites, Joshua then said, 'Come closer and hear the words of Yahweh your God.'

10 Joshua said, 'By this, you are to know that the living God is with you and without a doubtwill expel the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites before you.

12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe.

13 As soon as the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, Lord of the whole earth, have set the soles of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordanwill be cut off; the upper waters flowing down will stop as a single mass.'

14 Accordingly, when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.

15 As soon as the bearers of the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the waters -- the Jordan is in spate throughout the harvest season-

16 the upper waters stood still and formed a single mass over a great distance, at Adam, the town near Zarethan, while those flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely separated. The people crossed opposite Jericho.

17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in mid-Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until the whole nation had completed its crossing of the Jordan.

More Bible

Reading 1, Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15: 2 And the whole community of Israelites began complaining ... Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54: 3 What we have heard and know, what our ... Gospel, John 6:24-35: 24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were ... ... continue reading

Bible Resources

The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.